


cyclamen

by xi_an



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Light Angst, Non-Idol AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 16:46:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18706321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xi_an/pseuds/xi_an
Summary: maybe johnny isn't mr. perfect after all.





	cyclamen

**Author's Note:**

> heads up, i switch between "chittaphon" and "ten" a lot.

temptation was staring him in the face, only a stride away, beckoning ten to take the final step towards it.  he had stood in place for the last twenty minutes trying to decide what to do, fully expecting johnny to knock at any moment to see what was taking you so long. but deep down, the man knew that wasn’t actually going to happen.

 _she_ was here.

johnny's attentions were likely elsewhere, which made sense as to why he left his phone behind; his mind was clouded by something new and exciting, though ten had yet to actually prove it.  johnny seo was the picture of a good man; he looked honest enough, smiling and welcoming, but for the past few months, that façade was beginning to falter.

ever since his first love had passed away, and it was at her funeral that johnny connected with a mutual friend of theirs again; she had lived next to him in chicago for months but ten never knew who she really was. he didn't have the time to get to know her as he was busy participating in dance competitions across the states with his studio, some even taking them abroad.  but now johnny was spending more and more of his free time with her, telling him that he was just talking to her about his past and that she filled in some of his first love's memories for him in the time that he had been in korea, around the time he and chittaphon met.  he said that she understood him and gave him a familiar sense of support.

 _but that was supposed to be chittaphon's job_. ten was supposed to make him feel like that.

he took a deep breath and took the final step towards his dresser and held his hand over the phone, watching his hand begin to gently tremble as he realized what he were about to do.  this could be it.  johnny was either about to be cleared of the transgressions in his mind, or he would be found guilty and that would be the end.  unfortunately, there would be no middle ground for ten.  he slid a hand over the smooth glass of its screen and took it in hand, wincing as he saw the bright illumination too quickly for his eyes to adjust. with a deep breath, ten slowly entered his password, thumbing through the screens until he found his photos.  he didn’t even make a strong effort to hide them.

it happened to be the very first album.  

chittaphon's fingers danced over the screen to send as many pictures to his own phone as he could while storming to the lounge in a rage. the color of his face now matched the ruby red of his silk top and heartbeat was pounding in his ears; the sorrowful tears he had turned to those of rage instead.

the laughter from the party below grew louder with each step until he were finally there, standing on the level above, overlooking the joyous faces of everyone present, counting in a few friends and colleagues; a few of his own, and him.  she was only a few steps away, laughing with jeffrey, her hand on his back like they were the best of friends.  ten couldn’t help but feel like he were being completely replaced.

“johnny seo is a fucking liar!” he yelled out over the group, who immediately silenced and turned to you. the dj even stopped the music at the sound of his voice.  “good ol' mr. perfect is a motherfucking cheater!”

jeffrey dropped his glass, shattering on the wooden floor as he stared at johnny with utter shock and his mouth open wide. yuta and mark stood from their seats on the couch and simply stared at his  _ex_ boyfriend to wait for his response. seulgi, a girl from chittaphon's studio, was immediately in motion to get to him, while jisung and jaemin looked away with covered eyes and grimaced expressions that spoke in itself about how they would rather be anywhere else than here.

“ten, sweetheart, calm down,” johnny answered, stepping closer with his hands raised. “i think we should talk about this in private, don’t you?”

“no! no, john," chittaphon started, rage boiling in his blood. "i think everyone deserves to know who you really are!” he clutched the phone in his hand so tightly that his fingers were beginning to whiten under the pressure. “everyone deserves to know that you’ve been lying to them this entire time! even going so low and lying to me!” pulling his arm back, ten pitched the phone as hard as you could, sending it for his head, hitting him in the chest instead, making him wince in pain. “history should know that johnny seo is nothing but a fucking coward.”

 _she_  was stunned at the thai's outburst and at a complete loss for words until jeffrey grabbed her arm to try to lead her away. “wait, wait... john told me that they weren’t together anymore, that chittaphon broke it off,” she whispered to him. her eyes grew wider as she quickly realized what was happening, jolted now from her tipsy stupor by the look that jeffrey was giving her in return. “oh, shit.”

“yeah, 'oh, shit' indeed.”

~~~

“ten, come on, let me walk you back to your room,” lucas pushed, trying to get him away from the situation before the other could get up the stairway to meet him.  “come on, please.”

“did you know?”

“i didn’t know it had gotten this far,” he replied coyly and quietly, glancing over his shoulder at the group below and growing more urgent to move him.

“don’t. don't you even dare bullshit me, wong. did you know?”

“i had a feeling it was headed this way, yeah.”

“i know we’re having our problems,” ten sighed through a breaking voice and still shaking heavily, “i just didn’t think that this is how it would go. i never would’ve thought that he would be that guy.”

“chittaphon, please, listen to me. listen to me, ten,” johnny called out to him as he reached the top of the stairs, “i’m sorry. i didn’t mean for this to happen.” he was hurrying in long strides towards ten, but lucas moved in his way and kept a defensive stance between the two.

“just go back downstairs, john.”

“of course you didn’t _mean_ for this to happen, john,” chittaphon snapped, pushing his way around lucas. he didn’t stop to face johnny though, knowing that even though he had just admitted to himself that this end was likely inevitable, he felt the pain beginning to build and it was quickly becoming intolerable. looking at his face only brought the good memories and the sadness of loss, and chittaphon needed to get away from it before he broke apart.

“cheaters never _mean_ to get caught.”

**Author's Note:**

> cyclamen is for when you want to tell someone goodbye.


End file.
